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As the 1930s progressed, Sheaffer’s Balance provided the model for many pen makers; it was modern, it was well made, and it was popular. But after eight years, even the Balance began to look a little dated. Sheaffer’s response was to jazz the pen up by adding a metal cap, and the result was 1937’s top-of-the-line Crest (initially called just the Model 47). To make a smoother line, Sheaffer moved the barrel’s threads down to the end of the section, creating a short-lived trend in that direction. Other makers soon joined the race with their own metal-capped pens, among them the Parker Vacumatic Imperial in 1940 and the Eversharp Skyline in 1941 — but again Sheaffer had led the way. In 1942, Sheaffer discontinued the open-nib version of the Crest in favor of a new model with the company’s revolutionary conical Triumph nib. The older design is often referred to as the “first-year” Crest even though it was actually in the catalog for four years.

My men’s “first year” Crest is a lever filler featuring Golden Brown Striated celluloid. This pen was actually made in the latter half of 1941 or the first few months of 1942. At 5¹/32" capped and 6⁵/32" posted, it is virtually the perfect size, and it handles beautifully. The two-tone XF nib lays down a lovely line.

Back in the day, ladies’ pens were always smaller than their male-oriented counterparts. My first Lady Crest is a lever-filling Golden Brown Striated pen, 4²⁷/32" capped and 5½" posted. In typical Sheaffer fashion, its two-tone extra-fine Lifetime open nib is very firm. This pen was probably made in about 1940.

Next is a Lady Crest in black; this pen is a Vacuum-Fil model and has a smooth factory stub.

As time went on, the Balance influence on Sheaffer’s designs faded. The bullet-ended cylindrical profile became smoothly cigar-shaped, with the conical Triumph nib providing excellent writing characteristics. Its 5³/16" capped length is a little greater than that of its predecessors; but at 5²⁵/23" posted, it’s shorter in the hand. My lever-filling postwar Crest has a very nice medium nail nib. The biggest annoyance with this pen is that Sheaffer threaded the barrel/section joint but didn’t take care to ensure that the lever would line up with the nib.

Eversharp Gets There with Too Little, Too Late

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When Parker introduced the “51” in 1941, the new pen’s streamlined styling touched off a game of catch-up. Soon other makers began marketing streamlined pens, and one of the prominent features was a hooded nib in emulation of the almost-invisible nib of the “51”. Eversharp had just introduced its Skyline, with an open nib, and the company was left scrambling for a more modern look. In late 1943, the “Fifth Avenue” made its appearance. The pen was poorly conceived; its strikingly Art Deco styling was outdated, and even after some design improvements it was not as good a performer as other Eversharp pens of the time. Eversharp withdrew it after less than two years.

My first Fifth Avenue is a first-generation men’s version. It has a nail-firm medium nib and is Dubonnet Red. It is 5⁹/32" capped and 5¹⁵/16" posted.

Among the Fifth Avenue variations was one with a solid gold cap, priced at $64.00 (for a pen-and-pencil set) and called the “Sixty Four.” My first Sixty Four, a third-generation men’s model, is slightly shorter at 5¹/8" capped and 5²⁷/32" posted, and it has a semiflexible fine nib and is Dubonnet Red.

Next is a third-generation ladies’ model Sixty Four, 4¹⁵/32" capped and 5¹/8" posted. This black pen has a firm medium nib.

Last is another Fifth Avenue, a very stubby third-generation “Stowaway” model, 4¹/32" capped and 4³/4" posted. This Pearl Gray pen has a broad nib.

When Is a Hooded Nib Not a Hooded Nib?

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Eversharp wasn’t the only company to go after Parker’s hooded-nib styling. Late in 1945, Waterman also introduced a pen with a nib that appears to be hooded, called the Taperite. The Taperite’s nib is not a true hooded nib; it is small, but it is mounted with a standard feed in a section that is tapered to produce a streamlined contour but is otherwise quite ordinary. The lever-filling Taperite was offered in men’s and ladies’ models at several trim levels.

Probably my oldest Taperite, this Citation was made very shortly after World War II — or possibly during the final weeks of the war, before the Taperite’s public introduction. It’s a men’s model, black, 5⁵/16" capped and 6³/16" posted. Its medium nib is very firm.

My gray Stateleigh, probably about the same age as my Citation, features a gold-filled cap with a “Stars and Stripes” motif (two groups of five engraved grooves each to represent stripes, and a single engraved star in line with the clip) at the open end. At 5⁵/16" capped and 6³/32" posted, it’s the slightest bit shorter than the Citation. This is a top-of-the-line model, at least among models with plastic barrels, and it has a sweet, slightly flexible medium stub nib.

Part of the Taperite marketing plan appears to have been a direct assault on the “51” look, with a lined stainless steel cap topped by a gold-filled clip. The “band” bears an elegant diagonal-line treatment. This black Taperite Corinth, 5³/8" capped and 6¹/4" posted, definitely brings the “51” to mind — whether that helped Waterman or not isn’t known. The firm medium stub nib is quite nice.

Another part of the marketing plan was to attract those buyers who really didn’t care for metal caps. Plastic-capped Taperites came in two styles, the thin-banded Dauntless and the broad-banded Medalist. My black Medalist, fitted with a delightful fine flex nib, is 5³/16" capped and 5³¹/32" posted.

Next is another men’s Taperite, also black but with a Lumalloy (anodized aluminum) cap. This pen, 5³/32" capped and 6¹/32" posted, is a first-year Crusader, from 1947, with a delightful medium flex nib. I don’t usually collect stickered pens, but this one, while not mint, just “needs” to keep that sticker.

As do most companies, Waterman changed the appearance of its models over the years. Here is a Crusader from the early 1950s. It writes well with a medium nib that exhibits the slightest bit of flex. At 5¹/8" capped and 6" posted, it handles surprisingly like a Parker “51”.

Ladies’ Taperites made their first appearance at the very beginning, in the form of the Lady Garland, a tiny pen whose gold-filled cap bears an imprinted feather design for a band. My Lady Garland is an early one, with a firm stub nib. At 4⁹/16" capped and 5¹/8; posted, it hardly makes an impression in my hand — but it sure writes nicely!

Heir Apparent to the Vacumatic

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As World War II drew to a close, Parker began thinking about its future product lines. The Vacumatic was quite dated, while the “51” was going strong. To create its next open-nib pen, Parker essentially took the streamlined shape of the “51” and replaced the hooded nib and its collector with an ordinary open nib and feed. The clip came from the striped Duofold line. The result, introduced in 1946, was the Parker VS. The “VS” part of the name is generally thought to have stood for “Vacumatic Successor.” It’s a good looking pen, and Parker did improve the button mechanism to make it easier to work on and more reliable.

My Royal Blue VS writes well with a firm medium nib. At 5¹³/32" capped and 5¹³/16" posted, it is just a trifle shorter than a “51” and handles in virtually the same way.

The VS didn’t offer as many color or cap-style options as did the “51” (or even the Vacumatic), but it was available with a gold-filled cap as well as the Lustraloy. This Red Brown pen has a very wet medium nib, and it is 5½" capped and 5⁷/8" posted.

At 5½" capped and 6" posted, my Gray VS shows one of the changes Parker made during the model’s short life; it has a hard rubber feed instead of the clear acrylic that distinguished the VS at its début. This pen has a smooth fine nib.

© 2008 Richard F. Binder

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